A Widow's Egyptian Adventure

Then one day, just out of the blue, I decided to give life another try. I came out of my room and announced that I was going to look for a part-time job! I knew that I wasn’t able to handle a full-time job. I especially knew that I wasn’t ready to go back to the law office.

So it wasn’t long before I found a job at a video store within walking distance from home. But things weren’t going so well there in the beginning. Sometimes, I’d find myself looking across the street at the bank and imagine I’d see my husband standing there. Of course, it wasn’t him, it was just someone who looked like him or someone wearing a shirt like the ones he used to wear.

One day in the month of March, just out of the blue, I decided I had to get away for a while alone. I decided that I was going to take a trip, the trip of a lifetime! I always dreamed of going to Egypt. So that’s where I’d go!

As a kid, I always liked the Egyptian movies, the harem girls, the pyramids, the history of Egypt. But not even in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d actually go there. I was the kind of person who never went anywhere alone. I was even afraid to drive on the freeway. Even though I fantasized a lot about traveling to exotic places and Egypt was on the top of my list, the only place I traveled to was the local supermarket or the nearby mall.

I was at a point in my life where I didn’t care what happened to me or maybe I lost my fear; I’m not quite sure which one it was.

I said to myself, What’s the worst thing that could happen while I’m over there? I could get trampled by a camel while I’m there, but so what! I’m going to fly halfway around the world alone. And that’s an adventure already. I went to a travel agency and booked a tour to Egypt.

I informed the kids of my plans; some of them weren’t very happy about me going halfway around the world all alone to a foreign country. I suppose I could have asked one of them to go with me, but I felt like I had to do this alone.

The first week would be a land tour and the second week would be a cruise down the Nile River. The last two days, I would be staying at the Mena House Oberoi. The Mena House is one of Egypt’s best five-star hotels.

In March of that year, the United States carried out air attacks on the Gulf of Sirte. Libya is right next door to Egypt. Then on April the 14th 1986, the United States launched air attacks against targets in Libya.